How to acquire team members...

[Wakey 0]

Well, this is more question to the TDM team, i hope i did choose the right forum.

 

Have you got tipps for other teams how to acquire team members?

Are there special things to keep in mind?

How did you manage this?

 

I think you have realy interesting experiences with this, so why not sharing them ^^

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Best Regards

Wakey

[STiFU 732]

I guess getting teammembers for TDM was not as hard as it is for other projects because it is built upon a pretty huge community, namely the Thief-community. Many people simply felt the need for a project like this...

 

Sorry, for not being able to offer any real advice!

[New Horizon 507]

Begging! Scouring forums for interesting talent! People who simply find you and volunteer.

 

I guess the main thing is to get some good word of mouth going. Publicity helps. Nobody is going to help you if they don't know about you.

[Diego 198]

People will volunteer for projects they personally like.. so advertise the idea well, make pretty images, etc (I'm totally unexperienced, btw)

[jdude 18]

Diego is right. I remember I saw the first trailer released for this mod back when I had a ATI 9600 pro 128 GPU and could barely run Doom3. I was going to apply but my computer was so slow mapping d3 on it would have been pointless. A couple years later I finally got a better computer and one of the first things I did was come back and apply for beta-mapper status. After a couple months of mapping and learning the ropes I volunteered to do Saintlucia and I've been a member ever since.

[Springheel 4630]

Put yourself in the shoes of some anonymous person. What would make YOU want to join a mod? You're not going to sign up and donate your free time unless the mod looks:

 

a) organized

b ) has momentum

c) has a clear and interesting vision

d) has other people working hard on it

 

No one wants to waste their time on something that is likely to fail, and no one wants to sign up for something when it looks like the rest of the team doesn't know what they're doing (or just don't do anything).

[Fingernail 59]

Yeah, I can't add much more. It started with a strong (Thief in Doom 3 engine) albeit not fully formed idea, placed within an existing community (obviously it's far harder if you're trying to do something original as you have to convince others that your idea/story/gameplay is worth making). It was also timed quite well; a lot of people were saddened that there was no definite editor release in sight for TDS, and that's only the few that actually liked TDS enough in the first place.

 

It's funny, I don't know what the actual numbers are, but it seems like there have been more DarkMod missions released after the first beta than there were TDS fan missions after the editor release in the same period. Am I wrong?

[plasticman 16]

c) has a clear and interesting vision

That's where Dark Mod has a strong point. Doom 3 is very modding-friendly and a game with unified lighting is literally begging to be turned in a thief-like mod.

 

BTW: here's a classic how-not-to-do-it:

http://www.doom3worl...php?f=58&t=9300

[Goldchocobo 61]

That's where Dark Mod has a strong point. Doom 3 is very modding-friendly and a game with unified lighting is literally begging to be turned in a thief-like mod.

 

BTW: here's a classic how-not-to-do-it:

http://www.doom3worl...php?f=58&t=9300

 

Reading through that entire 5 pages was a guilty pleasure...

[Wakey 0]

Very good tips

 

Ok, to see if i learnt from your tipps, would you reply to such a post?

 

Hi there, people.

 

You may ask yourself now: "WTF is Dark Revelations?"

 

The answer is simple: A high quality freeware game project based on Doom 3.

 

Or to be mor detailed: "Dark Revelations will be a first person adventure game, with a large emphasis on atmosphere, physical interaction, item-on-item puzzles, social engineering, computer interfacing, stealth, and short, sharp combat (which does not mean gun rampage)."

The development will be carried out in small steps, with the first goal to provide a proof of concept techdemo, then a full Doom 3 total conversion mod, and if the ID Tech 4 sourcecode goes open source the ultimate goal waits: providing a full game.

 

What, you want a small overview over the story? No problem:

"A young librarian finds the diary of an asylum occupant in an old archive, and as he reads it, he live through the episodes written down.

The asylum occupant describes how he is tortured, his attempts to escape and his revelation that the asylum staff is part of a greater evil, which wants to doom earth.

This is what the young man tells his psychiatrist, and during the session he unveils dark and dreadful secrets."

 

If that sounds interesting for you, why not joining us? We are always in need for talented people, like Concept Artists, Texture Artists, Level Designers, Model Designers and so on.

 

Simply send your application to: office@rip-entertainment.com

 

And be sure to visit our forums and the chat under http://www.darkrevel...tertainment.com ;-)

 

 

Do you think this would have enough detail? Does it sound serious for you?

Or is there anything you would express different?

Edited March 26, 2010 by Wakey

[STiFU 732]

Personally, whenever I read internet haxor speech in such a post, I immediately don't take the person seriously. So better get rid of that "WTF" and replace it with a subtle "What the heck is Dark Revelations?"... Aside from some typos, I think this is a good advertising post. I'd also add a "Want to know more"-link. The information you present is maybe not sufficient to convince someone to work on your project.

[Springheel 4630]

No offense, but I would never even consider joining a probject that had nothing to show but some vague-sounding descriptors (first person adventure...atmosphere...physical interaction...puzzles etc) and a generic story summary.

 

Also, a statement like, "The development will be carried out in small steps, with the first goal to provide a proof of concept techdemo, then a full Doom 3 total conversion mod..."

 

Your "small steps" are to go from a tech demo to a full conversion mod?? Do you have any idea how much work that is? It just screams, "inexperienced and not going anywhere" to me.

 

Besides that, I would want to know, what have you already gotten done? Has the project even started yet? What skills are you bringing to the table? Exactly what kind of skills are you looking for? Are you expecting everyone else to do all the work? What kind of structure have you set up for organizing tasks?

 

There is absolutely nothing there to get anyone excited about offering up their free time.

[stumpy 242]

when you come up with names for mods you should do a web search before you pick a name to make sure you dont infringe any copyrights, looks like 'Dark Revelations' was a card game, thats highly collectable according to all the sites on the net.

 

its just that when you mention source code, and full game, it then reads as though the goal in the end is to sell it, and then the name would clash with another product.

Edited March 26, 2010 by stumpy

[Wakey 0]

Hi guy's, sorry my answer took so long!

 

You all posted very useful informations, and i had a lot to think about it ^^

I overworked the text, but i'm still not sure if it's sufficient, but take a look for yourself:

 

Hi there, people.

 

I am Wakey, from the team R.I.P. Entertainment, and we are currently working on a project called "Dark Revelations".

 

You may ask yourself now: "What the heck is Dark Revelations?"

 

The answer is simple: A free mod project based on Doom 3.

 

Or to be mor detailed: "Dark Revelations will be a first person adventure game, with a large emphasis on atmosphere, physical interaction, item-on-item puzzles, social engineering, computer interfacing, stealth, and short, sharp combat (which does not mean gun rampage)."

 

What, you want a small overview over the story? No problem:

"A young librarian finds the diary of an asylum occupant in an old archive, and as he reads it, he live through the episodes written down.

The asylum occupant describes how he is tortured, his attempts to escape and his revelation that the asylum staff is part of a greater evil, which wants to doom earth.

This is what the young man tells his psychiatrist, and during the session he unveils dark and dreadful secrets.

 

 

 

 

I for myself am not new to this area, i have already done some projects, like several maps for Quake 3 Arena , and a graphics modification for Quake 3, called Chili Quake XXL.

I also helped on a freeware game called "World of Padman".

 

On the german Quake fan website www.quake.de i am one of the moderators and newsposter's. My area of responsibility there is the editing and modding section.

 

 

If that sounds interesting for you, why not joining us? We are always in need for talented people, like Concept Artists, Texture Artists, Level Designers, Model Designers and so on.

 

Simply send your application to: office@rip-entertainment.com

Want to know more? Klick here!

 

Well, anyway, with the current informations posted here, i think this thread will be a great help for anyone who's searching for team-members

[Diego 198]

Maybe it's just me, but the description sounds plain and generic, it fits a hundred games. But you probably have a very unique picture in your mind, something that made you excited about doing this! Try to put that into words (unless it's "I want to be a mod leader and be famous and rich!" )

[Wakey 0]

Maybe it's just me, but the description sounds plain and generic, it fits a hundred games. But you probably have a very unique picture in your mind, something that made you excited about doing this! Try to put that into words (unless it's "I want to be a mod leader and be famous and rich!" )

 

I guess thats a very wise advise, Diego ^^

 

The aim of the project is, to create a dark and dystopic experience. A first person adventure game, with a large emphasis on atmosphere, story and ambience.

The gameplay will consist of physical interaction, item-on-item puzzles, social engineering, computer interfacing, stealth, and short sharp combat, but no gun rampaging.

This idea might not be new, as such features where already seen in games like DreamWeb, but in my oppinion far to less good games of this kind appeared in the last few years.

 

Maybe something like this?

[Springheel 4630]

The most impressive thing about the announcement is the artwork. Did you do those images? They're great.

 

Adding your credentials and previous experience is also a good thing. Though you still seem very vague on what kind of help you need.

 

The explanatory text, moreover, is completely uninspiring.

 

The aim of the project is, to create a dark and dystopic experience.

 

What does this mean? I can create a dark experience by not putting any lights in my level.

 

, with a large emphasis on atmosphere, story and ambience.

 

Every game promises to have a large emphasis on those things. What does that actually mean? What KIND of atmosphere? What KIND of ambience? How will you emphasize them?

[Wakey 0]

Hmm... a bit difficult to find the right words for it.

 

Maybe i should add this:

 

It play's in a world set in the neo-noir, a rainy unkind place.

It is ruled by everyday stress, technology, advertisements and commercials everywhere, observation and excessive security measures.

The Police is overstrained, and security enterprises are employed. But they do their job extremely brutish.

Huge companies have their headquaters and factories here and are the biggest employers in this place.

Many people who live here have depressions, or are agressive, or just have lost their lifewill.

 

The artworks where made by our concept artist ;-)

I also think they are amazing ^^

[Springheel 4630]

Well, I would definitely mention any existing team-members you have in your announcement; it helps to show people that effort is already underway.